I.J. NEWS SERVICELOS ANGELES, CA - The primary elections in California on June 5 were marked by a number of surprising victories. A slew of Indian-American candidates were also in the running for a number of races, many were novices who did not make the cut. The fear among Democrats was that a glut of blue candidates would split...

the vote in some key races, allowing Republicans to run unopposed in November. But fortunately that did not happen.GUBERNATORIAL:In California’s gubernatorial race, Democrat Gavin Newsom, the current lieutenant governor, will face Republican John Cox in the November elections. Newsom topped the 27-candidate race with 1,347,392 votes while Cox received 1,058,157 votes. Indian-American techie Shubham Goel, a 22 year-old novice, finished last in the pool of candidates with just 2,233 votes, or 0.1 percent. A recent UCLA graduate, Goel an independent has said he was running to show people that `everyday people’ can make a difference.US SENATEA prominent Indian-American contender attempting to vie for the US Senate was Arun Bhumitra, who projected himself as a Trump Republican and Rash Bihari Ghosh, an Independent. They were among 31 others attempting to unseat the Democratic incumbent Dianne Feinstein.It was a cakewalk for Feinstein, who won her seat back with 43.8 percent of the vote, totaling 1,700,809 votes. Democrat Kevin de Leon, of the California state Senate, finished second with 11.3 percent of the votes– and will face Feinstein off in the November elections. Surprisingly, Bhumitra came in fourth with 206,836 votes, a total of 5.3 percent. Speaking with , India Journal he said the results did come as a surprise. Bhumitra was has been the adviser to four U.S. presidents and administrations including Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as Republicans George W. Bush and sitting President Donald Trump, said : “I felt very good about the result, but could have done better if I had put more money into the campaign.’’ He revealed that his limited budget of around $55K kept him from getting into the top two and running in the November elections. Calling Indian-Americans `closet Republicans’ Bhunitra said those who came out and voted for him did so because of his background in the telecom and retail business , teaching and his proven record of community service.. He urged Indian-Americans to get out, get involved and vote in the upcoming November elections.Ghosh received 6,947 votes, or 0.2 percent, of the vote while finishing 30th in the race.TREASURERDemocrat Vivek Viswanathan running for California treasurer finished fourth with 484,901 votes or 12.8 percent in a five-candidate race.CA STATE SENATEState Senate District 32 was holding its special election primary looking to fill the seat vacated by Democrat Tony Mendoza, who resigned due to sexual misconduct allegations in February.Former Artesia councilman and Mayor Ali Taj was among the 11 candidates, which also included the previously resigned Mendoza. Taj finished with 4,583 votes, or 5.7 percent. CA STATE ASSEMBLYIn California state Assembly’s 15th District, Indian American Pranav Jandhyala was the lone Republican in an 11-candidate race featuring 10 Democrats . Jandhyala finished sixth with 6.69 percent of the vote.In California’s District 30, Indian-American Democrat Raji Rab secured just 5.1 percent of the vote, in a race where popular Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman is the incumbent and won more than 61 percent of the vote compared to the second ranking Republican candidate Mark Reed who got 28.5 percent.The already competitive 39th Congressional District race became more competitive on January 8, when Republican incumbent Congressman Ed Royce announced that he would not seek re-election this year. Royce was very popular among the local Indian-American community and was often called a `friend of India.’ Royce now serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He remains an active member of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans which he helped build and chaired. He continues to seeks council from the Indian-American community.The top two finishers in the primary were Republican Young Kim and Democrat Gil Cisneros who will face one another in the November election. California state Assembly Democratic member Ash Kalra, who represents the Silicon Valley, was uncontested in his re-election bid.SUPERVISORIndian-American clinical psychologist Harmesh Kumar came up short in an attempt to win the Contra Costa County District 4 Supervisor seat, finishing with 26 percent of the vote. Kumar had earlier removed his name from the list of gubernatorial candidates.ASSESSORIn Southern California, Krish Indra Kumar received 70,114 votes for 9.24 percent of the vote in the Los Angeles County assessor’s race, and finished fourth of four candidates.BOARD OF EDUCATIONJaved Khan, meanwhile, finished last in the Riverside County Board of Education Area 1 race.SUPERIOR COURTIn Placer County, Indian American attorney Kulvinder Singh, who was running for a Superior Court seat, finished last in a race of three candidates, with 4,258 votes ..Four candidates for Los Angeles County Superior Court advanced unopposed: Neetu Badhan-Smith, Abraham Khan, Upinder Kalra and Sanjay Kumar.US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESThe two California Indian- American Democratic Congressmen, Ami Bera in Sacramento, and Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, won the primary races.Bera, who represents California’s 7th district and is seeking his fourth term in the House, received 34,122 votes – 51.6 percent. “Dr. Ami Bera is humbled by the overwhelming support in his primary victory last night, and it is a testament to the real results he’s achieved for California’s 7th Congressional District,” said Bera’s campaign manager in a press release issued June 6. Khanna, who represents California’s 17th district, also emerged victorious with 36,379 votes: more than 59 percent. NEW JERSEYIn New Jersey, four candidates were seeking spots in the general election in various U.S. House seats.Republican Hirsh Singh running for the US House from the 2nd congressional district, fell short with 30.5 percent of votes and lost to Seth Grossman for the party’s nomination. Indian Americans Peter Jacob and Goutam Jois running from the 7th congressional district, were both seeking the Democratic nomination and a chance to unseat incumbent Leonard Lance. Jacob got 19.1 percent and Jois 14.1 percent and did not come close in challenging the Democratic winner Tom Malinowski.SOUTH DAKOTAIn South Dakota, Naveen Malik and Wyatt Osthus both Democrats were unopposed in the South Dakota House of Representatives District 31 primary election .Primaries were also held in Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana and New Mexico; no Indian Americans were among the candidates.